Midnight Dance
by risefromshadows
Summary: An exhibition of ice sculptures is the highlight of this year's Christmas fair. Ruby visits it daily; she is especially fascinated by the ice statue of a young dancer. On Christmas Eve she sneaks onto the exhibition grounds and is asked for a dangerous dance. / Ladybug & White Rose


**In case you didn't see this on tumblr - technically it's ****_Ladybug_****, with some White Rose.**  
**Let's say they're 19 and 21 here, yeah?**

* * *

When did it start? When did the delicate face and the elegant body enchant her for the first time?

She couldn't remember, but since that day she had been paying the Christmas market at the edge of the park a daily visit. This is where the snow statues were built. In the evening hours, when the kids were no longer frolicking around the cute snow animals or tried to make figures themselves with the help of the artists, everything became calmer and more pleasant.

That was when Ruby could finally look at the life-sized woman of ice. She seemed to be frozen in the middle of a dance move; her arms were directed towards the sky as if she wanted to catch the snow that made for white streets during the night ever so often. She was wearing a floor-length wide dress and a coat over it which looked so realistic that Ruby sometimes even found herself stroking the icy fur collar. She admired the details of the work. And when the setting sun tinged the ice red, her eyes seemed to come to life. In these moments light and shadow played a trick on Ruby and she believed she could see her smile.

* * *

"You like this one a lot, don't you?"

The voice of a woman ripped Ruby from her viewing. She turned around, startled.

"You're jumpy." A quiet laugh mixed with her words. Ruby scrutinized the woman next to her who was completely lost in her observation of the sculpture. She was wearing a dark wool coat and a thick scarf. Under the beanie a few strands of black hair framed her pale face. "But I can understand. I like this figure a lot as well. She looks as if she is dancing straight into the sky."

Ruby gave a slight nod. She didn't exactly know what to reply. With a sigh she put her hands in her pockets and turned away.

"And yet she is as beautiful as she is dangerous." The stranger continued, a mysterious undertone creeping into her voice.

"What do you mean?" Asked Ruby confused.

"Yuki Onna." The woman read from the sign that stood next to the sculpture. "Do you know what this means?"

Ruby shook her head.

The woman sent a thoughtful glance her way, but then shook her head as well. "It doesn't matter. The figures will be removed after the holidays." She paused to give Ruby the opportunity to speak, but the redhead kept silent. "What a pity, huh? Tomorrow is probably the last day you can look at it."

Ruby nodded. "Seems like it." She gave the snow woman a sad glance. In a few days she would be gone. Maybe she should take some pictures of her tomorrow.

"You should come here tomorrow evening, no one else will be around then. You could look at the ice sculpture for as long as you want." The stranger suggested. She buried her face deeper in the scarf so that her mouth completely vanished. Only her amber eyes flashed Ruby's way.

"But tomorrow is Christmas Eve." Ruby replied. Ultimately, this year she would be alone during the Christmas time since her sister was taking a vacation in the warm south.

"So? Maybe tomorrow will be the last day when you can see her." Said the woman and pointed at the ice sculpture. "Please come. Maybe you will witness a Christmas surprise."

* * *

The church clock struck seven when Ruby arrived at the deserted Christmas market the next day. The majority of the snow had melted and turned into unsightly brown sludge on the streets. She could feel the dampness in her shoes. Ruby would have preferred to turn back, but she wanted to see the snow woman once more. She even brought her camera.

"I'm probably just making a fool of myself…" She muttered, leaving the last booths behind her. Before her lay the free area of small parks that were surrounded by bare trees. Now that it was dark and not a soul was to be seen, an uncomfortable feeling crept up her spine. Maybe she should have stayed at home, immersed in a book, instead of stomping through the snow sludge.

But still she crossed the meadow, steering towards the place where she would find the snow woman. Her heart was beating faster once she walked by the snow animals and turned past a tree.

"What the…" Ruby stopped abruptly, bewilderedly staring at the empty spot. The snow woman was gone. But how? Had they already began removing everything? She let her gaze run over the snow-covered area. Every other figure was still in its place.

But before she could even think further than that, a laugh as clear as a bell sounded. Ruby startled, her heart leaping into her throat. She looked around, but the meadow was empty.  
The laugh sounded once more and this time Ruby was able to tell where it was coming from. Someone must've been hiding close to the group of trees and making fun of her.

Immediately the woman from the day before came to her mind, the one who had caused this stupid idea in the first place. Ruby could feel her cheeks getting warm from anger and embarrassment. She balled her fists. How dare she!

Ruby made her way towards the trees with firm steps, but even before she had walked half the distance a figure escaped from the shadows. With a scream Ruby backed off, but then she recognized the silhouette of a woman.

She danced across the meadow with her arms spread wide as if she was trying to fly away. Her wide dress swirled around her lean legs, her long white hair covering her face with every twirl. The coat seemed like a pair of wings. Even before she saw the skin flash in the moonlight, Ruby knew that this was the snow woman that she admired so. She elegantly skipped around, encircling the other sculptures and whirled up the snow that had not yet melted or been trampled tightly to the ground. Her whole body glinted in the moonlight.

Ruby couldn't look away. Her head felt empty. This couldn't really be happening!

The snow woman spotted her before she could regain her composure. Their gazes met. This short eye contact was enough to send a chill down Ruby's spine. With her heart banging in her chest she watched as the dancer came closer and finally grabbed her hand. She was cold to the touch, but it didn't bother Ruby. In the next moment, the snow woman had slung both arms around her and carried her along.

Ruby didn't care how weird this was. At the present time all she wanted was to be free and mesmerized by the wild dance. She had no problem adapting herself to the woman's rhythm; it felt as natural as breathing. She hadn't felt this happy in months. She felt as as if she was flying. Everything around her was meaningless. Merely the blue eyes and cool arms of the woman were important.

Ruby didn't know how long they had been spinning around the meadow, but once they stopped, she realized that hours must've passed. The moon was long past its highest peak and the distant houses were completely dark.

Panting heavily she clung to the snow woman and enjoyed the coolness she was radiating. White puffs of breath clouded her sight. For a few moments Ruby could only hear her own heartbeat while she was concentrating on keeping her balance because her legs felt like rubber. She doubted that she'd be able to walk a single step without help. But she still felt relieved when she looked at the snow woman. No matter how cold her touch was, in Ruby raged a warming fire. This dance had brought them so close that Ruby finally knew why she had been so fascinated by this ice sculpture.

Just as she was about to say something, the snow woman placed a finger on her lips. She smiled softly and shook her head. Her fingers tangled in Ruby's hair and played with the strands that were soaked with sweat. Ruby relished the contact; she nestled closer to the woman and closed her eyes. In the next moment she felt icy lips on her own. A shiver ran down her back and Ruby couldn't tell if it was pleasant or unpleasant. But she still clung to her dance partner and put her arms around her. She intensified the kiss and the snow woman reciprocated. She tasted like winter, frost and cold, but Ruby liked the taste. She couldn't think clearly anymore. Her breath mixed with that of the dancer.

Suddenly someone grasped her by the shoulder and roughly ripped her from the snow woman. Ruby wasn't even able to fight back against the interruption. She awkwardly staggered to a tree and leaned against the rough trunk, breathing heavily. She touched her throat with shaking hands. It hurt, because no matter how fiery the kiss had been, it had felt as if she was drinking ice-cold water. The heat that had seethed within her was gone.

"Are you okay?" A voice that she vaguely remembered broke the silence of the night.

Ruby wasn't able to answer the question. She noticed how fogged her mind was, but it was beginning to clear up. It felt as if she was waking from a dream. She blinked, but could only recognize the silhouette of a woman. The stranger bent over her and put a hand on her shoulder. Even with the coat and the thick pullover she was wearing, Ruby could feel the warmth radiating off her. Only now did she notice how cold she was. Trembling, she wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes.

"Don't be scared. I sent her away. She won't do anything to you anymore."

Ruby hesitated. She knew that voice and finally remembered where she had heard it before. She ripped her eyes open in surprise. Before her stood the woman she had talked to the day before, her black locks falling over her shoulders and Ruby could see worry shining in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby croaked out. The dull strokes of the church clock reached her ears.

"Come with me. I'll take you somewhere warm." Said the woman after the last chime faded away. She wrapped her long, black scarf around Ruby's neck. It was warm and smelled like lavender.

"What is happening here?" Ruby asked, her eyes searching the meadow, hoping to find the dancer somewhere. But she seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. "Where did she go? What did you do to her?"

"I sent her away so that she won't seriously harm you." She sighed and stroked Ruby's cheek. "I'm sorry. I was only trying to make your Christmas joyful. That's why I told you to come here. I didn't think that she would come to you and ask you for a dance."

"You knew this would happen?"

The stranger shook her head slightly. "Yes and no. I knew that she would come to life on Christmas Eve, but I did not think that she would pose a danger to you."

"But how do you know all this?" Ruby's thoughts swirled wildly inside her head. She could barely follow the woman.

"I created her." She said it so quietly that Ruby almost missed it. "I build ice sculptures every year. On Christmas Eve they become alive for a few hours. I don't know why it happens, but I take pleasure in this wonder every time."

"You created the snow woman?"

"Yes." Replied the stranger. "And I know how fascinated you were. I saw you. Every day you came to the exhibition and visited her. You could stare at her for hours and not notice anything going on around you."

Ruby could feel her cheeks flaring, chasing the cold out of her.

"For me as an artist there is no better compliment." She continued. With a shaking hand she swiped a few strands of hair out of her face. "This is why I wanted to share this secret with you. I wanted to thank you this way and make your day. But she is still a Yuki Onna…"

Ruby gave her a questioning look. She remembered that the woman had used the same term the day before.

"The sculpture's title is 'Yuki Onna', a Japanese legendary figure whose kiss can turn a human to ice." The woman fell quiet, but Ruby still understood what she was trying to say. Would the snow woman have killed her, had the kiss lasted any longer? Ruby wouldn't have cared in that moment, but now…

"Thank you." She muttered quietly and glanced around uncertainly. "What happened to her?"

"She's gone." She pointed in the direction of the city. "The clock struck midnight just now. Every sculpture I create turns to fog when Christmas Day breaks dawn. That is their price for being alive for a few hours."

Ruby nodded weakly. The longer she thought about it, the more unbelievable everything that had happened seemed. She had danced with an ice sculpture that had come to life. It sounded like a fairytale, even if there was no happy ending.

She contemplatively eyed the woman. Her cheeks were reddened. Her lips were stretched into a timid smile as she held out her hand to Ruby. "We should really go somewhere warm."

"So why did you tell me about all this?" Ruby asked without responding to the gesture. "We don't even know each other."

The woman stayed silent. She suddenly seemed insecure. "I thought you'd like it. You seemed lonely." She paused; white clouds hovered in front of her face as she sighed. "And you looked at my sculpture so _lovestruck_ that I figured you'd like seeing her dance. If I had known that this would happen…" She stopped there and looked down. Ruby could clearly feel the jealousy resonating in those words, but she didn't get to reply. "I'm sorry for exposing you to such danger."

Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A comforting warmth surged through her as she finally reached for the woman's hand. "Does the offer of a warm place still stand?"

"Of course."

"Good." Ruby answered, pleased. "But now you'll have to tell me your name. After all we seem to be spending Christmas together."  
She intertwined their fingers, and compared to the touch of the snow woman this one was warm.

"Blake." Finally a smile. "I'm Blake."


End file.
